If I may suggest... the one thing I wish I had done was take progress pictures every week. Since you're at the start of your "journary" (as they say) it could provide incredibly inspirational in the next few months if/when you hit a plateau.

There are too many variables for weight to be an accurate measurement on a day-to-day basis anyway. If you want to eliminate all the variables, ensure that you're weighing yourself at the same time every day, directly after a trip to the bathroom, and before eating anything, on the same scale you've been using for the purpose (and even then, scales have a margin of error on them that could run as far as +/- 2-3 pounds).

The best measurement for overall health is a body fat percentage test. It's easy to measure that with a tape measure, to boot - and will give you a better indication of how well you're doing.

In general, you'll see the biggest loss in the first 4-6 weeks of a change in lifestyle (eating healthier and exercising more, preferably, but either one on its own will likely have some positive impact), then a short plateau, then 3-5 weeks later it'll steady out somewhat with minor fluctuations.

That said, if you're concerned with just your weight (and you shouldn't be!), then don't weigh yourself daily. Weigh in weekly or bi-monthly at most.

- I'm not Jesus, but I can turn water into Kool-Aid.- A Sergeant in motion outranks an officer who doesn't know what the hell is going on.- A demolitions specialist at a flat run outranks everybody.

Fivelives wrote:That said, if you're concerned with just your weight (and you shouldn't be!), then don't weigh yourself daily. Weigh in weekly or bi-monthly at most.

I don't agree with this. And I know a lot of people don't agree with me on this, but I think it's helpful to know the fluctuations in your body. If you only weigh yourself twice a month then you could be met with an awful shock if you're up a few pounds or still stagnant. When I'm not being a bad player, I weight myself daily, naked, after having gone to the bathroom and before breakfast. It takes some getting used to, but it helps calm the panic you can get if you see the scale go up because you get used to knowing when you'll weigh more, or when you'll weigh less. For "fun", I'll weigh myself at night just to see how much weight I've "gained" throughout the day and it can easily be up 3-4 pounds depending on what I've had to eat. If I only weighed myself twice a month I might be panicking with numbers like that!

It feels pretty good, I'm sitting here in my office, waiting on a meeting to start, and for the first time in a VERY long time, I'm just focused on what the meeting is about, and not trying to make myself look like less of a total fat ass.

Since I made 100lbs faster than I expected, I'm going to set 180 (target weight, and 12 pounds) by christmas as my goal. That will put me ending the year at pretty close to the "first" goal weight. I want to get to 175, and then decide from there how much more I want / need to lose, and really start focusing on the "lester burnham" portion of my fitness journey.

Double cardio is working. Hit the 140s finally (149). Aiming to lose another 4 by Christmas still (so it's a good thing I'm eating Halloween candy right now...).

Also... I tried Zumba. As my friend said to me "I think you're a little past that by now...". So right. The cardio is too weak/low impact and it's just not a comfortable form of exercise for me. Ah well, was worth a shot - I wanted to try something new but I think I'll be sticking to my Jillian Michaels dvds and running.

I think I should cut out the 2-4 cans of Red Bull that I have Monday to Friday at work and possibly on the occasional night out swap from Guinness to Vodka mixer.

I don't really eat any fast food or ready made meals or have fizzy drinks aside from the Red Bull so I am putting my growing size down to lack of exercise and evil, evil drinks.

Pretty sure my BMI is 25ish (happy to use it as a non-athlete) but worryingly I think it is now higher than my 61 year old father who has taken up walking now retired. Not good that he is probably in better physical condition that me (30), 'cept his knees. I'm not big by any means, Happy with my weight just should be healthier and want the stomach fat moved elsewhere.

Hopefully playing football sometime in the next couple of months, that will wreck me for days afterwards.

Hit 149 pounds (finally cracked 150... and then promptly got sick). Four more to go before Christmas (christ, that's feeling awfully close now) and 9 more overall.

Currently squatting/lunging/deadlifting all around ~120 pounds. Bench press is at 75 pounds. Other exercises are at much lower weights but still much higher than anything I've ever done before. The extra cardio really helped to lose that extra pound or two, but as soon as I stopped, the weight loss stopped, so gotta get right back into it when I stop being sick.

My own fault (well as far as I can fault anyone) - not been eating completely healthy and not been walking as muchh - hard to find the time while campaigning (and with the ills that are the reaosn I've been pensioned because I can't do a full time job) - 3 more days of campaigning (though I am taking monday off), then election day tuesday, and then can get going again (before xmas stress sets in).

I'll just enjoy that I'm kicking around 240 rather than 280 like 6 months ago..

And Dru? I liked Dru. There's something about people who are just "wonderfully nuts"

Anyone here in proper winter countries who's got any tips for running outside in the cold?I tend to either pack myself up too well and then boil inside my clothes, or wear too little and worry about catching a cold.

"Ask stupid questions. Growth is fuelled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer,not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant."

I don't know about running, but when I used to play hockey I was always completely soaked with sweat by the end of a game.

I'd recommend layering as best as you can, maybe some sweat pants, a wicking long-sleeved shirt, and a light fleece jacket. You can take the jacket off and wrap it around your waist if you get too hot.

Maybe a wind breaker instead of the fleece if it's a particularly windy day.

Courage not of this earth in your eyesFaith from far beyond lies deep inside